Spacer for plumbing fixtures



Aug. 14, 1962 o. J. LITZKOW 3,

SPACER FOR PLUMBING FIXTURES Filed April 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

OTTO J. LITZKOW By WM ATTORNEY Aug. 14, 1962 O. J. LITZKOW 3,048,853

SPACER FOR PLUMBING FIXTURES Filed April 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

OTTO J. LITZKOW ATTORNEY- United States Patent 3,048,853 SPACER FORPLUMBING FIXTURES Otto J. Litzkow, Chippewa Falls, Wis. Filed Apr. 28,1961, Ser. No. 106,379 11 Claims. (Cl. 4252) This invention relates toplumbing and consists of a device to improve the installation of wallsupported closet bowls.

It is essential to the installation of most wall supported closet bowlsthat a minimum space of approximately inch exist between the wall andthe attached closet bowl. If the bowl touches the wall at any point whenthe retaining nuts are tightened during installation, or duringsubsequent use, the vitreous china of the bowl will crack or break.Methods heretofore used to adjust the position of the support bolt nutsand washers which determine the spacing for the bowl have been timeconsuming and unreliable. It is, therefore, a primary object of myinvention to provide a closet bowl spacer which will make possible thequick and accurate installation of a wall supported closet bowl.

. 'It is a further object of my invention to provide a closet bowlspacer which will prevent breakage of wall supported closet bowl due toimproper installation.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdetailed explanation taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein a preferred embodiment of the principles of the invention hasbeen selected for exempliiication.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my invention in use. FIG. 2 is a partialsection view of my invention taken along section line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of a closet bowl which has been installedwith the aid of my invention, with broken out sections showing the wall.

FIG. 4 is a partial section view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1 showingthe relation of a spacer bolt and a spacer hole of my invention.

My closet bowl spacer has a rigid frame 6 with an inner face 7, whichmust be substantially (flat so. as to permit positioning of the frame 6substantially parallel to the outer surface 17 of the wall 16 as shownin FIGS. 2 and 4. The frame 6 may be made of any suitable material aslong as it will remain rigid and flat. A handle 21 is preferablyattached to the spacer frame 6 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to facilitatethe handling and use of the frame, and also to aid in aligning the wastepipe 23, which extends through the frame center opening 24.

Adjustment holes 8 are located at various positions in the frame 6 tocorrespond to the spacing of the support bolts 5 for the various modelsof closet bowls 13 which are to be installed. FIG. 1 shows my spacerframe 6 being used with a typical installation consisting of foursupport bolts 5. It will be noted that the adjustment holes 8 may beround 8a or slotted 8b for ease of positioning. Closet bowls supportedby only three support bolts are also common and suitable adjustmentholes 8 are shown provided in the spacer frame 6 to accommodate theinstallation of those bowls also.

At several points on the inner face 7 of my spacer frame 6 the spacingheads of spacer bolts 9 protrude an equal distance x as shown in FIGS. 2and 4. It can be seen that a recess 13 is provided in the spacer frame 6to receive each spacer bolt spacing head 10. Distance x is the width ofthe substantially uniform space which is required between the installedcloset bowl 22 and the outside surface 17 of the wall 16, as shown inFIG. 3. The purpose of the space is to prevent the bowl from touchingthe wall during installation or use which would Patented Aug. 14, 1962ice cause the bowl to break. The distance x may vary somewhat, dependingon the model of closet bowl which is x from the inner face 7 to insurecorrect alignment of the installed closet bowl. The spacer bolts 9 maybe firmly fixed to the spacer frame 6 or they may be engaged in threadedrelation by spacer holes 12, as shown in FIG. 4, with lock nuts 11maintaining the spacer bolts in the desired position.

Accurate alignment of a wall supported closet bowl 22 is extremely quickand easy, using my spacer frame. First, the support bolt nuts 19 andwashers 20 are placed within the wall indentures 18 on the support bolts5, as

shown in FIG. 2. Then the spacer frame 6 is positioned so that the innerface 7 is facing the wall 16 and the support bolts 5 pass through theappropriate adjustment hole-s 8, with the spacing heads 10 of the spacerbolts 9 in abutment with the outside wall surface 17. The support bolts19 and washers 20 are then adjusted so that each washer 20 is held flushwith the inner face 7 of the spacer frame by nut 19, maintaining theabutting relation of the spacer bolt spacing heads 10 and the outsidewall surface 17. The support bolt nuts 19 andwashers 20 are then inperfect adjustment and the spacer frame 6 may be slipped off the supportbolts 5. To complete the installation, the closet bowl 22 is merelyslipped on the support bolts until it abuts the support bolt washers 20,and the retaining washer 15 and the retaining nut 14 are tightened inplace, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The foregoing description clearly indicates the advantage of using myspacer frame to attain perfect alignment of wall supported closet bowls.It is no longer necessary to lift the heavy bowl onto the support boltsto measure the space width x and then lift the bowl back extremelydifficult to off to allow adjustment of the support bolt nuts andwashers, followed by another awkward measuring operation and furtheradjustment, repeated several times, until space x appears correct. Withthe old method, it was detect whether one support nut and washer wereout of alignment, with the result that breakage during installation andsubsequent use was not uncommon. With my light spacer frame 6, anymisalignment of a support nut 20 and washer 19, or non-uniform spacingbetween the inner face 7 and the wall 16, are immediately apparent.Correction of the misalignment is quick and easy, and the subsequentalignment of the closet bowl is always accurate.

A possible low cost modification of my invention would be a spacer frame6 with fixed spacer bolts 9 having spacing heads 10 extending a fixedequal distance x from the inside face 7 of the frame 6.

It is understood that the present invention is not confined to theparticular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated anddescribed, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as may comewithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framehaving an inner face and a center opening adapted to allow the wastepipe for said closet bowl to extend therethrough, a plurality ofadjustment holes located at spaced intervals in said frame, a pluralityof spacer bolts having spacing heads which extend a substantially equaldistance beyond said inner face of said frame.

2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein the portions of said innerface surrounding said adjustment holes and said spacer bolts are insubstantially coplanar relation.

3. In combination, support bolts for a wall supported closet bowl, eachof said support bolts having a nut and Washer attached in adjustablerelation, a rigid spacer 7 frame having a substantially flat inner faceand a center opening adapted to allow the waste pipe for said closetbowl to extend therethrough, a plurality of adjustment holes located atspaced intervals in said frame, said adjustment holes encompassing saidsupport bolts in free relation, a plurality of'spacer bolts havingspacing heads which extend beyond said inner face of said frame asubstantially equal distance and abut said wall, said washers beingretained in abutment with said inner face by said nuts.

4. A spacer for a Wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith a substantially flatinner face and having a plurality of spacerholes, spacer bolts carried by said spacer holes, said spacer boltshaving spacing heads which extend beyond said inner face of said frame asubstantially equal distance, a plurality of adjustment holes located atspaced intervals in said frame, and a center opening in said frameadapted to allow the waste pipe for said closet bowl to extendtherethrough.

5. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith an inner face, a plurality of adjustment holes located at spacedintervals in said frame, a plurality of spacer bolts having spacingheads which extend a substantially equal distance beyond said inner faceof said frame, said spacer bolts having locking means and being carriedin adjustable relation with said frame by spacer holes to permitchanging the distance said spacing heads extend beyond said frame innerface, said spacing heads being located partially within recesses in saidframe inner face.

6. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith an inner face, a plurality of slotted adjustment holes located atspaced intervals in said frame, a plurality of spacer boltshavingspacing heads which extend a substantially equal distance beyondsaid inner face of said frame.

7. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith an inner face, a plurality of adjustment holes located at spacedintervals in said frame, a plurality of spacer bolts having spacingheads which extend a substantially equal distance beyond said inner faceof said frame, and a handle attached to said frame.

'8. In combination, support bolts for a wall supported closet bowl, eachof said support bolts having a nut and Washer attached in adjustablerelation, a rigid spacer frame having a substantially fiat inner face, aplurality of adjustment holes located at spaced intervals in said frame,said adjustment holes encompassing said support bolts in free relation,a plurality of spacer bolts having spacing heads which extend beyondsaid inner face of said frame a substantially equal distance and abutsaid wall, said spacer bolts having locking means and being carried inadjustable relation with said frame by spacer holes to permit changingthe distance said spacing heads extend beyond said inner face, saidspacing heads being located partially within recesses in said innerfaces.

9. In combination, support bolts for a wall supported closet bowl, eachof said support bolts having a nut and washer attached in adjustablerelation, a rigid spacer frame having a substantially fiat inner face, aplurality. of slot-ted adjustment holes located at spaced intervals insaid frame, said adjustment holes encompassing said support bolts infree relation, a plurality of spacer bolts having spacing heads whichextend beyond said inner face of said frame a substantially equaldistance and abut said wall, said Washers being retained in abutmentwith said inner face by said nuts.

10. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith a substantially fiat inner face and having a plurality of spacerholes, spacer bolts carried by said spacer holes, said spacer boltshaving spacing heads which extend beyond said inner face of said frame asubstantially equal distance, said spacer bolts having locking means andbeing carried in adjustable relation by said spacer holes to permitchanging the distance said spacing heads extend beyond said inner face,said spacing heads being carried partially within recesses in said innerframe inner face, a plurality of adjustment holes located at spacedintervals in said frame.

11. A spacer for a wall supported closet bowl comprising, a rigid framewith a substantially llat inner face and having a plurality of spacerholes, spacer bolts carried by said spacer holes, said spacer boltshaving spacing heads which extend beyond said inner face of said frame asubstantially equal distance, a plurality of slotted adjustment holeslocated at spaced intervals in said frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,497,171 Haas June 10, 1924

